Fort Mill Jackets win 4-1; score belies close game

Sometimes the team that dominates a game doesn't always win. Just ask the Nation Ford Falcons varsity boys soccer team.

Nation Ford lost to rival Fort Mill High 4-1, despite dominating and controlling the ball for the majority of the game against the Jackets.

"We didn't take care of the chances we had," said Nation Ford head coach Elton Ramey. "It's hard to swallow because I believe we out played them. They took care of business when they had to."

Both teams were ranked in top 10 in the state in the Class AAA division with Fort Mill being ranked fifth and Nation Ford being ranked eighth with the latest polls coming out Monday.

The Jackets improved to 8-3 with the win and 2-1 in Region IV-AAA, while Nation Ford fell to 6-3-1 and 3-2 in the region.

Fort Mill held just a 1-0 lead at the half, but Nation Ford rallied in the second half and kept the game close until the final 8:30.

The first goal of the game came off the foot of junior midfielder and Fort Mill captain Kevin Fielden at 4:45 in the first half to give the Jackets the lead right before the half.

"The first half was even although we were up 1-0," said Fort Mill head coach Lloyd Chalker. "The second half we dominated at the beginning, but I thought they dominated for the next 20 minutes after that."

Chalker said that no matter what the records are or who is ranked in the polls, the score didn't reflect the closeness of the game.

"These games are always like this," he said.

The Jackets went up 2-0 in the second half on a score by junior forward Stephen Nall on a breakaway goal.

Fort Mill scored two of their four goals in breakaway fashion catching Nation Ford junior goalkeeper Carson King out of position.

Defensively, Fort Mill had to stay alert all game as Nation Ford kept the ball moving and took 14 shots on goal, including eight corner kicks.